Eating too few calories?

lgreenich
lgreenich Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm currently on the mend from a foot injury, that requires me to stay off of my feet for most of the day. So I'm obviously not able to exercise much right now other than some Pilates for about 40 minutes per day. I was told to calculate my BMR and that if you eat below that, you risk sending your body into 'starvation mode' and that it will prevent me from losing weight. I only have about 10 pounds to lose, but I'm finding it very hard to lose these 10 pounds. It's not that I CAN'T lose it, because I've been my 'ideal' weight before... but I'm wondering if I'm eating too few calories? There are some days I don't even make it to 1200. Everything I've always heard makes it sound like less calories in = weight loss. But that's not working for me. So, taking into consideration that I'm NOT using much energy all day being on bedrest, if I eat less than 1200 calories or so per day... is that not enough? My BMR was around 1300 when I calculated but I don't really understand how all of this works. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
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Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    With 10 pounds to go a reasonable amount of weight to lose would be 1/2 pound a week. Daily fluctuation - water, waste, etc. it's sometimes hard to see that kind of loss.

    Starvation mode is grossly exaggerated. BMR - the calories your body would use if you stayed in bed all day. So if you are eating that, then your deficit is activity level + exercise. Yes, that's hard to do with an injury. Can you do chair workouts? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xC9khisFPA

    1200 is based a lot on nutrition. It's really hard to get all the vital nutrients with less. Because you are close to goal and can't exercise, you are already at a disadvantage for maintaining lean muscle. Personally, I wouldn't eat less than 1200. But I'm old and really need to keep as much muscle as possible.
  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
    Starvation mode is a myth.
  • lgreenich
    lgreenich Posts: 10
    @TeaBea, I'm making sure I eat nutrition dense foods as I don't want to GAIN weight while on bed rest, so they're not 'empty' calories. Normally I wouldn't eat quite as low as 1200 calories, but with no activity/exercise I don't have a big appetite. I guess my question here would be, if I eat LESS than 1200, am I setting myself up for weight gain somehow? Is that going to mess up my metabolism? I can do certain exercises, and I have been, but the exercises I'm able to do don't really burn more than about 150-200 calories per day. So if I'm eating around/slightly under 1200 calories, all very nutrition dense foods, while on bedrest... is that too few calories?
  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.
  • lgreenich
    lgreenich Posts: 10
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

    That's what I've always heard, but looking around the MFP forums there's so many people talking about 'starvation mode.' They said if you go below 1200 calories per day then you will signal your body to hold onto weight, which is definitely not something I want to do... so that's slightly confusing.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    lgreenich wrote: »
    @TeaBea, I'm making sure I eat nutrition dense foods as I don't want to GAIN weight while on bed rest, so they're not 'empty' calories. Normally I wouldn't eat quite as low as 1200 calories, but with no activity/exercise I don't have a big appetite. I guess my question here would be, if I eat LESS than 1200, am I setting myself up for weight gain somehow? Is that going to mess up my metabolism? I can do certain exercises, and I have been, but the exercises I'm able to do don't really burn more than about 150-200 calories per day. So if I'm eating around/slightly under 1200 calories, all very nutrition dense foods, while on bedrest... is that too few calories?

    Chances are 1200 is too few even on bed rest.
    exercise isn't paramount to weight loss, caloric deficit is.
    That being said, exercise is paramount to aid in weight loss as a way to hold onto more lean body mass, and lose mostly bodyfat.

    You should eat more than 1200, always.
    Eating below 1200 for too long can affect your metabolism.

  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
    I understand. Don't believe everything you read. I read all kinds of stuff on these forums that people state as if it's fact and they really don't know what they're talking about. The science of it all is that, barring some rare, hormonal condition, you will lose weight if you burn more than you consume.
  • BlackTimber
    BlackTimber Posts: 230 Member
    BMR is a calculated number only meant to get you close to your target daily caloric requirement. Feel free to adjust calories up or down a little based on your own personal experience. But for now, with so little actual physical activity available to you, I think you should just keep doing what you are doing and not worry about your weight.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    lgreenich wrote: »
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

    That's what I've always heard, but looking around the MFP forums there's so many people talking about 'starvation mode.' They said if you go below 1200 calories per day then you will signal your body to hold onto weight, which is definitely not something I want to do... so that's slightly confusing.

    I am frequently under 1200 calories a day - not on purpose, I've never eaten much. I've lost 53 pounds so far. And around 50 inches. I'm not starving and my body certainly isn't holding onto fat.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    lgreenich wrote: »
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

    That's what I've always heard, but looking around the MFP forums there's so many people talking about 'starvation mode.' They said if you go below 1200 calories per day then you will signal your body to hold onto weight, which is definitely not something I want to do... so that's slightly confusing.

    Starvation mode that many here promote is a falacy and untrue.

    Eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

    Pretty sure if you eat under 1200 calories everyday for an extended period of time it can and will affect your metabolism. Mind you we are talking many many months
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
    adowe wrote: »
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

    Pretty sure if you eat under 1200 calories everyday for an extended period of time it can and will affect your metabolism. Mind you we are talking many many months


    I think eating at a deficit in general effects metabolism over extended periods of time, yes. So, eating the most you can while still facilitating weight loss is probably a generally wise idea.

    OP, just because you eat nutrient dense foods doesn't mean your body is getting the proper amount of nutrients it requires, keep that in mind. Ideally with 10 lbs left, .5-1lb a week loss is probably a wise course of action to try and make sure you maintain what lean mass you can while being inactive.
  • muffinsandcakes
    muffinsandcakes Posts: 333 Member
    how to know your burn calories ?? :open_mouth:
  • Amanda4change
    Amanda4change Posts: 620 Member
    Unless your going to be laid up for a prolonged period of time (more than 6-8 weeks) my suggestion would be to switch from trying to lose to maintenance mode while you heal.
  • TossaBeanBag
    TossaBeanBag Posts: 458 Member
    I looked up Sylvester Stallone's diet... well, I tried to, anyway. It looks like he really did not eat a heck of a lot, and he exercised like crazy. I am not exactly sure at what point the body will stop burning calories, i.e., stop losing weight. The only thing I can figure, since we burn calories sitting around, is when we are dead.

    When I was in the army, in the infantry, we had huge calorie deficits during our training, sleep deprivation, too, and stress. I got in really good shape off that. Lots of exercise and eating a balanced, albeit a calorie-deprived diet. Hummm..
  • teagirlmedium
    teagirlmedium Posts: 679 Member
    It would take a long time to go into starvation mode. You would have to consume a small amount of calories for a long time for your body to go into the starvation mode people talk about in those forums you said you have read. It is not like it happens in a week. You're body has to get used to only getting that many calories (so eating under calories has to be a consistent thing you do) and it takes a long time for the body to get used to that.
  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
    adowe wrote: »
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

    Pretty sure if you eat under 1200 calories everyday for an extended period of time it can and will affect your metabolism. Mind you we are talking many many months

    It hasn't affected mine. I think everyone's different and we all have to do what works for us.

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Starvation mode doesn't exist. Caloric deficit = weight loss. Exercise is not required. I
  • maddy1900
    maddy1900 Posts: 8 Member
    It depends on how much you weigh to begin with. I eat around 1100 calories a day and I don not feel hungry. The weight is coming off at a steady pace. I think the main thing is not to allow your body to be hungry. This is what makes your body go into the storage mode. The stomach sends a message to the brain and the body starts to store fat and slow down your metabolism....
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    adowe wrote: »
    jennifurballs wrote: »
    It will do nothing to your metabolism. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

    Pretty sure if you eat under 1200 calories everyday for an extended period of time it can and will affect your metabolism. Mind you we are talking many many months

    It hasn't affected mine. I think everyone's different and we all have to do what works for us.

    Being in a calorie deficit does have its drawbacks. It's just the nature of the beast. Have you gone into maintenance yet? If you're still in weight loss, it's hard to say what your maintenance calories will be or whether extended periods of VLCD has effected metabolism.

    Again, this is over many, many months not just a few weeks and those with a great deal to lose can cut more aggressively without the negative impacts those with less to lose would have.

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